How To Calculate
Your Whiplash Claim
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How much is the
pain and discomfort of your whiplash
injury worth?
A fair question,
after all a whiplash injury is painful ?
so you should be compensated
accordingly. Unfortunately, however, the
level of compensation you get for your
injury following an accident will depend
on a number of variable factors.
The Whiplash
Compensation Claim The first of the
variable factors will depend on how you
make your
whiplash injury
claim.
If you make a compensation claim
directly against the insurance company,
then you will likely be compensated in
accordance with the settlement agreement
you make with the insurance company.
However, if you decide to seek the
advice of a compensation solicitor to
handle your whiplash compensation, then
you could be entitled to compensation
categorised as (i) General Damages and
(2) Special Damages. General Damages
For Whiplash The overall amount that
you may be entitled to under General
Damages is difficult to determine as it
is paid for the physical pain and
suffering (i.e. the actual damage ? such
as a whiplash neck injury or something
more serious) that you encounter as a
direct result of the accident you had.
You may also be allowed to claim for
emotional pain and loss of enjoyment of
life as part of General Damages.
Finally, if the pain and suffering you
encounter as a result of your injury
causes you to suffer psychological
disorders, such as depression, then this
may also be included in your
compensation claim.
Although General Damage sums awarded by
a court will be dependant on their set
guidlelines, the details of your medical
report detailing the extent of the
whiplash, the actual injuries caused,
and the possible harm it has had on your
emotional state will, all play a pivotal
part in the whiplash injury claim.
Special Damages For Whiplash Unlike
General Damages, Special Damages can be
fixed to some degree and are payable to
you as a result of you having
encountered certain special losses
because of the accident. In particular,
Special Damages are payable on any loss
of earnings (including any potential
loss of future earnings as a result of
the accident) you may have to endure
while you recover from the accident; car
hire expenses you have to pay as a
result of your car being in the repair
shop; if you have to pay someone to look
after you while you recover from your
whiplash, these can be recovered; and if
you have paid for medical attention to
treat the injury, you can also include
these in your claim. If you want to
claim for Special Damages you need to
keep a careful track of all the payments
you have made and where possible you'll
need to have receipts. Insurance
Settlement If you decide that you do
not want to make a whiplash injury
compensation claim through the courts,
then you need to agree to enter into a
settlement agreement with the insurance
company. In this case you need to make
sure you read the terms of the
settlement agreement very carefully as
insurance settlement claims usually
contain provisions (1) that the
insurance company can pay you in
instalments, rather than a one-off
lump-sum payment; (2) that once you have
been paid the whiplash compensation by
the insurance company you cannot reopen
the claim in the future to try and get
some more money and agree to no longer
hold the insurance company liable for
any future cost or loss. Limitation
Period To Bring A Claim If you have
recently suffered a whiplash injury,
then you have a period of 3 years from
the date of the injury in which to bring
proceedings to court. If you fail to
bring your
whiplash claim
to the courts within this time you will
have forfeited your right to make a
claim. Whiplash Injury Solicitor
Whether you have suffered a neck injury,
back injury, or bruising, in order to
know exactly what your rights are you
should seek a consultation with a
personal injury
solicitor
or lawyer as soon as you can following
the accident and in any case before you
agree to sign any settlement agreement
with any insurance company as they are
not obligated to tell you what your
legal rights are but also what
compensation you should be entitled to.
Author: Murntaz
Shah
Date: 12/11/2005
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Finding
And Using Litigation Support
by: Leon Chaddock
You need litigation
support. Where are you going to turn for your needs?
Surely your client expects high quality and you
expect to do much better than those at the other
side of the courtroom. But when it all comes down to
it, there are simply some things that you just can't
do on your own. In these cases, having an effective
and reliable litigation support on your side can
make all of the difference. If you are interested in
these services, look at the advantages that some
litigation support opportunities can provide for
you.
For example, they can help
you in a number of very important ways. They can
help you with video depositions as well as courtroom
design and automation. And they can help you with
scanning and the coding of your very important
documents. Should you choose to go without
litigation support like these, you may find yourself
in a whole mess of trouble.
But, before you head off to
choose a company to do your work for you, consider
the options that you have first. For example, you’ll
simply need to have the right levels of experience
and know-how from the company that will provide your
litigation support. You need to know that you can
trust everything that they provide for you. Quality
is key. You also need to know that they will deliver
when they say they will. They need to provide for
you what you need, when you need it. You need to be
able to expect quality, timeliness, and expertise
from the litigation support that you choose.
To find the companies that
can provide just that for you, you simply need to
use the web as a tool in finding them. Research
them, ask questions, and interview them. Do whatever
it takes to provide you with what you need to know.
Make sure you can communicate with them effectively
and that they prove worthy through the way in which
they present their services to you. Litigation
support is the backbone of your company, after all.
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